Why do ESL schools in the Philippines insist in offering 1 on 1 courses as part of the curriculum?

We feel native English speaking teachers in the classroom is most important when navigating and improving English skills. One on one classes are only for special needs students and should be short term and instructed by a native speaker. Local English spoken by Filipinos is at best upper beginner level. The relevance of their conversational skills has little to do with the content and active parts of speech that you find in the US, Canada, UK and other English Speaking countries.

So, why do most ESL schools in the Philippines insist in 1 on 1 courses with a Filipino “teacher?” There are several reasons in using this strategy:

The School heads are by local law required to be a native Filipino.

Most ESL schools in the Philippines are owned by non-English speaking owners that rely on the Filipino school head to provide and hire teachers because the owner’s English skills are less than the school head.

By hiring at least ten Filipino employees the owners are eligible for free G9 status in terms of immigration. Meaning the owners are allowed to stay in the Philippines for free.

Filipino’s rate of pay is far less than a Native English Speaking Instructor.

Most often the Filipinos hired, are college nursing students or graduates that work for very little money (60 – 90 pesos per hour). In fact, in order for Filipino nurses to work in an English speaking country, they have to pass the IELTS exams with a 7 or better band score in the four English skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing. So, the conclusion can be made that if a nursing student or graduate is teaching English to persons as a second language, it is inferior English the student is learning.

Native English speaking teachers earn 250 – 400 pesos per hour, making it ineffective for owners to offer Native English 1 on 1 courses. This means no large salaries for the owners.

Also, the Philippine education from day one of elementary school has a stronger emphasis on singing and dancing rather than relevant education and English language skills. This gives the owners a staff that is willing to sing and dance at the Christmas party and perform skits at graduation.

Given all of the above facts about 1 on 1 English with a Filipino “teacher”, who do you think is the big winner or the big loser?

Is it the Filipino “teacher”, the foreign owners who themselves are using English as a second language or the student that is paying the least amount of money for the least amount of English education?

9 Comments

And the owner of your school is ??? Obviously you know the schools well enough to openly post what you have said without any side effects from the local Filipino community. By chance are you married to a Filipino or just here to bash the system while promoting your school? How much do you pay your Filipino workers?

Great Topic!
I can agree with everything that is written above and can appreciate some of the facts that I was unaware of.
My thinking has always been one of doubt concerning someone teaching English when in fact the Filipino population is trying to use English as a second language.
It is not a wonder that owners of ESL Schools would want to hire locals , particularly if they themselves don’t know English as a first Language. The task of teaching English is a daunting task and if you have little experience with English and the culture, it is a surmountable task. If you put someone that is learning how to use English in the forgone trusted position of teaching another learner of English, it comes with a cost to the learners of English.
Simon

The owner is a Native English Speaker! Do you really want to bash anything about that?
The reason that we post the article is so that English learners coming to the Philippines have the facts about English schools and the system that is in place with none English speaking ESL owners.
What was said in the previous article is all true. So there is no reason to get mad. Maybe you should stay on point with the facts. Every student that has come to the Philippines to learn English makes the same observations about the 1 to 1 Filipino teachers’ vs the abilities of Native Speakers. The off the cuff knowledge is far superior to the other. It’s not about someone’s marital status or harming the community. It’s about providing the best possible English education for students wanting to become proficient with its use.
The students that come here to learn English rarely if ever want to stay and continue their education at the university level in the Philippines. That should say everything about the academic level of Philippine education and the teachers.
ESL students use English to travel, work and or enter a universities in countries that use English as a first language. We suggest to our students that they immerse themselves in English when they arrive and that mistakes and struggles is part of the learning process.
So I ask you this: How much time of your life is spent speaking English outside of the classroom will determine if you are a contender in the English speaking world or just needing a pay check as a “Teacher?”
Ps. thank you “Teacher”

Hello Simon and thanks for your opinion!
We know that there are some good Filipino ESL teachers and that our article speaks of the majority of teachers that try to instruct ESL students at low level. Most of the higher English level Filipinos have graced capitalism and are working in the growing call center industry. In fact there is a vacuum in the area of proficient English speaking locals.
Please refer to the article written by Jose Carillo: http://josecarilloforum.com/jcessays.html
In our opinion, working in a call center is much different than teaching ESL English and the fact remains that Native Speaking Instructors are far superior in all aspects of teaching English.
What was started at birth continues a whole life time, naturally.

Hello to the writer of this blog, I am a Filipino; I found these article is very helpful to the students who wish to learn English. I can agree with Simon. I can’t blame him for doubting someone teaching English as non Native Speaking. I believe Filipinos have the ability to teach English however their lack of knowledge and culture differences is our big weakness vs. Native Speaking teachers who speak English as their mother Tongue. I can appreciate Native Speakers who come to the Philippines to share their knowledge not just in teaching English but in all aspects in life, using English in the real world and helping our history the ideas of system efficiency. In the facts written above “who is the big losers” of course the owners of the ESL Schools who doesn’t speak English well and just relay on the Filipino teachers.
Cheers!
Jess

I know what you mean. I have worked for Korean owners in ESL schools and they are very hard to understand and my read on them is that they are calculating, in the cattle like treatment of all employees. I would rather have never had to be the one to say it, but I think that everyone that has had the opportunity to work under them understands this. Lets just put the white elephant upfront in full view.

I read this article and thought yeah he’s got a point… The other article however… Alas! That explains the agenda of this article. You know you don’t have to put down competitions to promote your company. Mind you, the target of your critisms are the ciizens in the country where you’re company is based. Show a little respect. I mean why come here where you can have it back in the US (or wherever u come from)? There, they can immediately apply what they learned right outside the school doors… Why not focus on your work and be patient. Quality and efficient service invites clients. Ads do help, too! This article, however, cheap and unneccesary…might as well say it, “let it be known that We have far more superior skills and credibilty, and the Right to teach English, it is Our language fir heavensake!!!! Mind you, most Filipinos learn English since Nursery school… We learned it as a secondary language which non- english speaking foreigners can relate to. It didn’t come naturally to us, so who do you think they would prefer? As a teacher, I firmly believe there is no single strategy that fits all…yours might work with some students, theirs might really work to a few more coz they’re booming! It really goes down to the client preference. You might as well work more on your marketing strat that your service is worth the money… Or perhaps you add personality and values to it like, kindness, hospitality, patience and cheerfulness; which come naturally for Cebuano teachers. WOOHAAAA! Chow! Take it easy.

I find this comment to be typical and predictable, where ever you come from (what island would be the expected answer?). English students that come to the Philippines are here for two reasons. The first reason is to improve their English and the other reason is to enjoy the hospitality and culture of the local population.
Students who come from other countries to learn English in the Philippines have come from a higher quality and more demanding academic system. They are wanting to migrate to an English-speaking country for continued academics in an educational system that requires a high level of English proficiency or for employment with the same requirement. Since the Philippines educational system uses English as a second language and has only recently stressed the importance of higher English skills be taught in the Philippine educational system, it is to be expected that this countries English skills are lacking.
About Students and tourist, who arrive here are always amazed about the common and wide practice of posting the cost differential between locals when it comes to activities, tourist attractions and cost of fruit and vegetables in and on the street markets and venders. This results in foreigners paying more for the same service and/or products. In English speaking countries, this is called discrimination and unfair practice. In short, its illegal and enforced should someone dare to try and practice this illegal price gouging strategy.
Teaching and learning the English language is about English culture and not about Filipino culture. The two cultures are unrelatable and this fact is to be expected. Experience counts for everything and it cannot be taught effectively by Filipino teachers that have never travel to and lived in an English-speaking country. Most Filipino English teachers are a stepping stone for the beginners. The real problems or chink in the armor of Filipino teachers rears its ugly head beyond the beginner’s level. This is when students ask better and more difficult questions about blended words, underlying meaning of phrases, idioms, phrasal verbs, 0- 3rd conditionals, etc.
Our ESL School uses materials and methods that or proven to yield results that increase student’s confidence with measurable gains in English proficiency. This is what international students are needing and unfortunately for the locals, nobody comes here and says they want to speak Filipino English. The model for speaking English is a Native English Speaker.
Based on your writing, which seems to be aimless even for a blog, it would not pass muster in our school as an example of skilled English writing. The fact that you have so many spelling errors is hard to believe, when touting the English level and skill as an effective teacher for anyone aside from a starter to early beginner. With your example, I rest my case.
I have taken the time to correct your English writing as it was riddled with basic English errors. I did not change the value of its message:
I read this article and thought yeah, he’s got a point. The other article however… Alas! That explains the agenda of this article. You know you don’t have to put down competitors to promote your company.

Mind you, the target of your criticism are the citizens of the country where your company is based. Show a little respect. I mean why come here where you can have it back in the US (or wherever u come from)? There, they can immediately apply what they learned right outside the school doors. Why not focus on your work and be patient?

Quality and efficient service invites clients. Ads do help, too! This article, however, cheap and unnecessary, might as well say it, “let it be known that we have far more superior skills and credibility and the right to teach English, it is our language for heaven sake!!!! Mind you, most Filipinos learn English since nursery school. We learned it as a secondary language which non-English speaking foreigners can relate to. It didn’t come naturally to us, so who do you think they would prefer? As a teacher, I firmly believe there is no single strategy that fits all. yours might work with some students, theirs might really work to a few more coz they’re booming! It really goes comes down to the client’s preference. You might as well work more on your marketing strategy that your service is worth the money or perhaps you add personality and values to it like, kindness, hospitality, patience and cheerfulness; which comes naturally for Cebuano teachers. WOOHAAAA! Chow! Take it easy.